76. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the measures used to assess progress under the “Digital and Innovation at Scale” pillar of the Better Public Services Transformation Showcase 2025-2026, including the extent to which citizen uptake and engagement with digital services are taken into account; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51533/26]

Better Public Services is the government's public service transformation strategy to deliver for the public and build trust. The vision of the strategy is to deliver inclusive, high quality and integrated public service provision that meets the needs and improves the lives of the people of Ireland.

The three pillars of the strategy are: digital and innovation at scale, workforce and organisation of the future, and evidence-informed policy and services designed for and with our public.

The strategy is focused on high level outcomes to help the public service to monitor progress and continuously improve the delivery of its services to the public including greater use of digital to do business with the public service.

The Better Public Services Showcase 2025-2026, available on gov.ie, highlights work taking place across the public service to drive transformation. It includes key data points which relate to the digital pillar. It refers to the OECD’s Digital Government Index, an international benchmark of digital transformation. In 2025, Ireland scored 0.83 out of a maximum of 1.0 placing 7th out of 36 countries. It also refers to the 2025 Open Dara Maturity Assessment, in which Ireland scored 96%, compared to an EU average of 86%, placing 5th overall out of 36 countries. This assessment evaluates the maturity of countries in open data, particularly measuring progress in making public sector information available and stimulating its reuse, in line with the Open Data Directive.

The Digital Public Services Plan is the Government's roadmap for delivering seamless, inclusive and user-centred public services through digital transformation. This Plan is a flagship initiative under Better Public Services. It aims to ensure that by 2030:

• 100% of key public services are available online; and,

• 90% of applicable services are consumed digitally.

To help oversee the implementation of the Digital Public Services Plan, we have developed monitoring and evaluation systems that utilise core digital building blocks that all Departments have access to. This will continue to be developed over time to track progress against the targets set out in the plan, and to develop the insights and data needed to continuously refine it, with the aim of optimising delivery and enhancing user experience in the most cost-effective way.